Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 308
308 that Friday has universally been observed as a holiday among the Muslim from the very earliest time that Islam took its rise. (Vol. I. R. R. 1902). Who is a true Martyr. "Bear in mind that a true martyr ( Shaheed) is not only the man who is killed in religious cause but also the man who in all trials and difficulties remains firm and faithful to God, and who is ready to suffer any hardship in the path of God. Shaheed literally means a witness and, therefore, everyone who has such a living and certain faith in the existence of God that he may be said to have witnessed Him and the glorious manifestation of His power is a Sliaheed or a martyr. He believes in the exis- tence of God and in His mighty power and control over all with such certainty as if he had witnessed them, When the spiritual wayfarer has reached this stage, he finds no difficulty in laying down his iifa in the path of God: rather he feels supreme pleasure aud bliss in it. By laying down life in the path of God it is not meant that a person should seek an occasion to be ac^ tually murdered, What is meant is that he should prefer pleasure of God to his own desires and interests, that is to say;, whenever his own interests and desires clash with his duty to God, he should willingly forsake the former. Every one should reflect whether it is this life that he loves most or the next; whether if he meets with any difficulty or is subjected to any hardship in the path of God, (i. . , for righteousness* sake) he would bear it with heart's joy, and whether if he is required to lay down his life, he is prepared for it. This is a spiritual stage to which it is my object to lead my disciples. " (Vol. IY R. R. 1905),